Circe Tales
by AnonymousLily
Summary: Of Cats, Magic, and Love. The captain remembers an old friend.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Circe's Spell

Jonathon ran in holding Scruffy, yelling, "Hey Mom, that blasted cat was back again!"

Carolyn looked up from her manuscript scattered across the floor. "Oh no! It didn't leave anymore dead birds, did it?"

"Yeah, and Scruffy chased the cat off and then rolled in it, and now he's all icky."

The captain popped in and said, "Be a good lad and dispose of it for your mother."

"Why can't Candy do it?"

"Because she'll be readying the gear for you two to bathe Scruffy."

"I hate cats. They're dastardly."

"Belay that. Did I ever tell you of Circe?"

Carolynn smiled, recognizing the name from mythology as a beautiful witch who lived on an island and turned ship wrecked sailors into animals. "You knew Circe, Captain?"

"Aye, and fierce as a storm she was, and yet she had impeccable taste in people. She was an enormous orange haired cat who followed me on board from shore leave, adopting me as her own."

Carolynn's lips twitched. "It sounds like you were smitten."

He winked at her drolly. "I seem to recall another Circe stepping through my front door here, bound and determined to let me know I was no master on my own ship!"

"What about the cat?" Jonathon urged.

"Hmmm, well she was a deadly ratter on board. Sometimes she'd curl up with me, but woe to anyone else who attempted to pet her. She'd hiss in warning then draw blood." He whispered to Carolynn, "Unlike another Circe who once let any Sean, Blair, or Harry pet her."

"Captain!" Carolynn looked scandalized.

"A dog is a 'pal,' but a cat insists on respect and independence. Jonathon lad, that cat sometimes brought me mangled bodies of vermin as love gifts, even dropping them on me once or twice. After that first voyage she followed me here, and bereft of rats, I gave her fish and cream. Once I was entertaining a friend here, and she popped up on the . . . ummm . . . sofa. I could see wee claws and a long tail dangling from her mouth and barked, 'Circe, no!' She dropped an enormously fat mouse, unscathed. The way that mouse waddled across my friend, I assumed it was in the family way. Imagining Gull Cottage overrun by mice, I yelled, 'Circe, get it!' That cat merely sat, back toward me, glancing over her shoulder at me as if to let me know orders weren't appreciated." He whispered to Carolynn, "Much like another female I know."

"Where'd the mouse go?'

"It ran in a hole in the baseboard that I can assure you has been repaired."

"What about your friend?"

"She grabbed her shawl and never darkened my door again." He laughed heartily, remembering Prue gathering her clothes, telling him off and the cat as well.

"Jonathon, weren't you going to clean up that dead bird?"

He rolled his eyes and dragged toward the door. "Lad, how does a seaman react to an order?"

Jonathon sighed, darting glances at the captain, and said, "Sorry Mom for rolling my eyes." He then saluted, saying "Aye, aye," and purposefully walked out the door.

"Nice save on the . . . ummm . . . sofa, Captain."

He grinned. "You weren't alive yet, minha querida, so no complaints."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Regrets

Carolynn and the captain were sipping wine, sitting on the sofa before a blazing fire that crackled away at the cold evening. They watched shadows dance on walls. She was bundled up in a pink velour robe while the captain was garbed in his usual clothes. Perpetually unaware of the temperature himself, he saw her shiver and levitated an afghan over her. "Thank you, Daniel. You know, I never would of thought of you as a cat person."

"I've always gotten along well with animals- often better than people."

"So what sort of animal did your Circe turn you into?"

He laughed. "So we're back to that. Remember Odysseus had an antidote before he drank Circe's potion, so he remained a man."

"I thought you'd say a poodle before the fire."

"Slander! You're the one who enchanted me to that, woman! I'd prefer you say wolf beside the fire; don't think I can be domesticated entirely."

Carolynn grinned at him. "Well, anyhow, I'm sure she was a lovely cat."

"She was a sight to behold trailing after me up the gangplank, one ear gone, scars everywhere, a terrible limp, but that plume of a tail straight up and proud. That foul tempered cat had fought far too much in her younger years, and even partially tamed she became a byword in Schooner Bay for cornering dogs."

"Hmm. A foul tempered cat with orange hair. Sounds like a perfect match."

"Foul tempered?"

"How about fiercely insistent on the respect she was owed?"

"That I'll accept, but without the sarcastic grin if you please."

At that moment Candy came running downstairs, barefoot and in her nightgown, a horrified expression on her face. "Mom, Captain, there's a dead thing in the bathroom!"

The captain immediately dematerialized, and Carolynn knew he was facing whatever upset Candy so. "What do you mean by 'thing?'" She said as she shot up the stairs with Candy, hand in hand.

"Maybe a mouse? It was disgusting!"

As they got to the bathroom, they saw a few drops of blood on the floor, and the captain tying up the trash. "Nothing to be upset about, ladies. I suspect we have a feline stowaway somewhere on board. I'll take this out, see what I can find, and perhaps secure Scruffy's doggy door."

"I'll mop up the blood on the floor."

"Mom, I've got to go!"

"Right. I'll get the blood up when you're done."

After the domestic drama, the captain rejoined Carolynn in the living room. "Couldn't find even a whisker, and I've secured Scruffy's door," he said as he sat beside her.

"I think you've jinxed us with all this talk of Circe. I've never been that fond of cats personally. They kill such helpless little creatures like birds and mice."

"They're efficient hunters if they choose to be. Did I ever tell you how Circe passed?"

"I was hoping for old age, but it didn't seem likely."

"She WAS getting old, slower, didn't hunt much anymore. It was the first time I left her when I went on a voyage, and I gave orders for the housekeeper to treat her like a queen. When I got back she was gone, and I was informed she'd been run over by a cart." He blinked back any suspicious sign of weakness. "I still wonder if she thought I'd abandoned her. I'm not even sure that's how she really passed. I suspect worse." He sat, mouth clenched, starring into nothing.

Carolynn waited, but he added nothing. After awhile, she said, "Daniel, come to bed with me."

"You forget how long ago all this occurred. Any pain has long since faded, so I need no mollycoddling."

"I'm no stranger to loss. Come with me for my sake."

Frustrated by his inability to even hug her and ashamed of having revealed his old attachment to a mere beast, he said, "I'll join you in a bit."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dream, Past, and Present

Carolynn saw some howling creature race by, wreathed in flames, boys yelling about fire crackers running after it. Then she felt a weight pressing down on her chest, so heavy it almost hurt to breath. She realized she was in bed, Daniel standing there gazing out into the night sky through his telescope. She couldn't move. She tried to cry his name, but the weight pressed down even harder. She realized an enormous tattered cat was sitting on her chest, peering at her with glowing copper eyes. "Get off!" She kept trying to yell, but she couldn't make a sound.

She didn't know how, but she understood the cat as though it were speaking to her, even though it wasn't. 'I don't think I like you here.'

She kept trying to move or scream "get off! I can hardly breathe!"

The cat unsheathed its razor sharp claws and scratched her chest. 'I smell your heart. You love him?'

Carolynn fought to say, "Yes! Now get off me! You're just a bad dream!"

The cat got up and sprawled across the empty pillow beside her. 'Don't let him leave you behind. It burns.' Carolynn tried to stroke the cat, to comfort it, but she couldn't move her hands. She fell into nightmare images of its last moments and then into blessed dreamlessness.

She awoke startled by the alarm clock, the pillow damp against her face. She felt her chest, but there was no wound.

* * *

Jonathon demanded, "Mom, why can't I ask the captain to tell Circe stories?"

"Honey, his cat died in a bad way, and I'd rather not remind him."

The captain materialized, startling her, and said, "Son, your mother is a very kind woman, but I don't mind telling Circe stories. Those who have passed and aren't present like I am live in memories, and it's good to hold on."

"Daniel, a moment please."

"Lad."

"I know. Go outside or something." Jonathon exited the alcove.

"Daniel, I don't think it's good to dwell on the past like that."

"Madam, you live with a ghost!"

"It's not good to dwell on those who aren't present."

"You never speak of your husband Robert, I've noticed. I never brought it up before but I've long thought it unusual."

"You yourself said something about the past being a nice place to visit, but preferring the present."

"Visit the past, yes, but don't ignore it. Think of the effect on Jonathon and Candy. I hadn't thought about Circe in years, and I wish I had. Carolynn, hold tightly to all of it." Carolynn thought wryly to herself, what else would a ghost say?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hello

Martha screamed. Everyone ran (or materialized) to the kitchen. An enormous cat, tail waving and single ear back, stood on the table snarling at Martha. Carolynn grabbed the children and pulled them back; the captain's face lit up as he cried, "Circe?"

The cat immediately quieted, gazed at him for a long moment, then slowly blinked. She jumped into his arms, her raspy purr filling the room. He buried his face in her fur, hiding his eyes from the family. Martha commented, "Oh wonderful. Is this ghost cat from hell going to haunt us too?"

Carolynn elbowed her, watching the tender hearted captain snuggling the behemoth. Candy, released from her mother's grip, reached out to pet the cat. The captain barked, "No, Candy!" Candy's hand passed right through Circe, and the cat never deigned to notice her.

Jonathon asked, "Can we keep her?"

Speechless for a moment, Carolynn then replied, "I don't think it's up to us."

The captain murmured to Circe, "Do you forgive me?" The cat began rubbing her head against his beard as he grinned, joyous in both the presence of his long lost friend and his ability to hold her in his arms.

Then her face slipped through his. "Daniel?" Carolynn asked, confused.

The cat began fading, becoming more and more transparent. "What's happening?" Candy demanded. When the cat disappeared, the captain looked up, stricken, and dematerialized himself.

* * *

He was gone for days, leaving Martha and Carolynn to answer the children's questions for which they were ill prepared. They did, however, find an occasional dead mole or bird in the house. Jonathon took the job of removing the creatures, claiming in the captain's absence, he was the man of the house. Candy claimed Circe was there still, lurking, leaving them gifts.

* * *

Then in the afternoon, Carolynn answered the door to find the captain standing on the doorstep. "Where have you been?" He laughed, taking her hand in his, and kissed it. "Daniel?"

"I followed her as far as I could go, and I've come home now." Carolynn didn't even notice when a gangly black cat slipped past them into Gull Cottage.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Afterwards

Daniel later explained, "If the Circe of myth could change men into beasts, it's no stretch for the real Circe to have changed me back into a living man."

"And that's the only explanation I get?"

"Ma cherie, perhaps we could explore other mysteries?"

"I think I should just call you Captain Distraction, not that I'm complaining. Did you seal up Scruffy's door so that cat that's been living in the yard would stop leaving dead things by our bed?"

"Of course, much as it pains me to hamper Bast's freedom."

"Her name is Blackie! We'll not tempt fate by naming another cat after a magical being."

"Far be it from me to remind you that a rose is a rose by any other name, Mrs. Gregg. You seem to be reveling in distracting me from distracting you."

"Daniel, you've distracted me since the moment I first laid eyes on your portrait."

* * *

Seasons passed, and one evening a very pregnant Carolynn called Candy and Jonathon to the living room and told them, "Did you know when your father was alive, he kept so many pictures of you two in his office that his boss thought he had a huge family?" Daniel glanced in, smiling. She suspected he just wanted to hear about Robert himself, but she kept talking. She watched Blackie sinuously weave figure eights around Daniel's ankles as he stood in the doorway, listening.

Carolynn and Daniel did keep a secret or two from each other. She told him about the dream and how she believed Circe sent it, but she did not tell him how much Circe had frightened her at first, or about the death within the dream. She didn't think she could bear the look in those proud eyes of his if she told him. He didn't tell her he knew anyhow, and how it had taken human tears to stop Circe's reliving of her last moments. He didn't tell her the boys who been responsible had no descendents. He did tell her he knew Circe was at peace, but not what regions he had traveled through, following that orange plume of a tail like a flag.

In the fathomless reaches of the heart, any heart, not just human or ghost, all things are possible.


End file.
